This seems very much at odds with a stylised fact about India: in that
country gold jewellery has traditionally been a store of wealth, not
just ornamentation, and often makes up a large fraction of a dowry in
traditional segments of society. This applies not merely to the most
wealthy class but to those farther down the economic ladder who manage
to save over time. I would expect that India would differ from many
other countries in which it is less likely to hold a significant
fraction of household wealth in the form of gold jewellery. See for
example

Well, the point you made Martin,
shows a very interesting aspect of India, which is its incredibly
strong class society. The top class, which apparently makes up almost
all jewellery demand appears unaffected by the state of the economy.